Macau Business Daily – International Game Technology (IGT) is expected to launch a new slot machine game at selected casino properties in Macau and Singapore by 2015. The company said in a statement that it already had the licence to develop the new Tokidoki-themed games. Available in additional casino markets throughout the world, they will debut here and in Singapore. “With our strong focus on developing games that appeal to international audiences, based on themes and game dynamics that resonate regionally, we’re very pleased to launch Tokidoki for players in Asia, particularly in Macau and Singapore,” said Joe Sigrist, IGT…

Seeking Alpha – In 2009, I wrote a piece on the global economics of gambling. The subject interests me because I had previously determined what types of entertainment people spend the most money on. It turns out that drinking, “entertainment” drugs, and sex are at the top of the list, but gambling ranked a healthy sixth after restaurants and movies. My gambling data was provided by the Global Betting and Gaming Consultancy (GBGC). GBGC has worked with or supplied information to over 400 clients, the majority being blue chip organizations. I have found its gambling database to be the best…

Forbes – Macau’s metamorphosis from gamblers’ guide footnote into the global gaming capital booking seven times the casino revenue of Las Vegas has inspired countries across Asia to try their own luck. From South Korea to Sri Lanka, there are gaming venues and big plans for more. While every government wants to duplicate the dollar figures of Macau, the model most follow is made in Singapore. Singapore awarded two casino licenses in 2006, following an unusually contentious pubic debate, with the goals of boosting visitor arrivals and adding what Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong called the “X factor” found in…

South China Morning Post – Flush with cash after hitting the jackpot in Macau and Singapore, international gaming companies are betting on new markets across Asia as governments package economic incentives and rewrite legislation to welcome them. The Philippines, South Korea, Australia, Russia, Taiwan, Sri Lanka, Japan and most of Southeast Asia are trying to attract the region’s increasingly affluent and mobile consumers with the lure of glitzy casinos and tourism resorts. “[Asia] is a long way off from saturation where, potentially, new supply would eat into existing operator revenues,” said Michael Paladino, a senior director in the corporates department…

Bloomberg – Lui Che-woo became Asia’s second-richest person by setting up a casino company that within a decade became the world’s third-biggest by market value. The 84-year-old says he’s just hitting his stride. “What can I do if I retire, watch the sun rise and set?” said the chairman of Galaxy Entertainment Group Ltd. (27) who first made his fortune in construction and also owns 13 hotels in the U.S., including seven Hiltons. “I want to do something meaningful. I don’t want to just sit there waiting to die.” Lui, the richest person in Asia after Hong Kong property tycoon…

Economist – Kabukicho, Japan’s biggest fleshpot, swarms over a crowded one-kilometre block of Tokyo. It is a gaudy patchwork of clubs, massage parlours and seedy hotels, a short walk from what is probably the world’s busiest train station. Hoodlums from Yakuza crime gangs tout illicit thrills from a well-thumbed menu of sex, drugs and gambling. Takeshi Iwaya, a politician, wants to pull gambling out of the seedy company it keeps in Kabukicho and put it into giant family-friendly casinos. He is lobbying for Japan to lift its ban on casinos. A share of Macau’s eye-watering gambling revenues is the goal….